Tools to Prevent Identity Theft
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)Fraud Alert: Phishing
(requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)Please click on the links below to learn more about protecting your confidential account information. For more information on our privacy policy, visit our privacy policy pages.
BankFIRST Customer Commitment: BankFIRST will never ask a customer to verify personal information via email. If you receive a suspicious email requesting this information, please notify us immediately or forward the suspicious email to netbank@bankfirst.com.
→ Online Security: Protecting Your Information and Identity
→ Detecting Fake Credit Cards
→ Fraudulent "ACH and Wire transfers" E-Mails
→ Pizza Delivery Scam
→ E-mails that claim to be from the FDIC are reportedly in circulation
→ FS_ISAC Fraud Advisory for Businesses: Corporate Account Take Over
→ Email Breach at Epsilon
→ Identity Theft
→ ATM Skimming
→ Mystery Shoppers
→ Protecting Yourself
→ Fraud Resources
→ BankFIRST Fraud Contact Information
FFIEC Consumer Guidance
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FFIEC Business Guidance
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Internet fraud is ever-increasing. Cyber-criminals continue to find new ways to gain access to computers in their attempts to steal your personal information. If they succeed it can result in losses to you and/or your business.
BankFIRST is doing its part to protect you from fraud. We urge you to do your part, as well.
Read more about steps you can take to safeguard yourself from fraud by downloading the brochures on this page (provided by The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).
In 2012, BankFIRST will also be providing educational seminars in various locations. Check with your nearest financial center location for event dates!
Detecting Fake Credit Cards
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Given the faltering economy and the rise of technology, counterfeit, cloned, altered and forged (CAF) cards are up a reported 12% over last year. Today, we give you a quick law enforcement-level primer on how to detect a fake card beyond just matching ID and verifying the card with the processor.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that have the appearance of being from the FDIC.
The e-mails appear to be sent from various "@fdic.gov" e-mail addresses, such as "protection@fdic.gov," "admin@administration.fdic.gov," or "service@admin.fdic.gov."
They have various subject lines such as "Update for your banking account," "ACH and Wire transfers disabled," and "Banking security update."
The fraudulent messages state:
"Dear clients,
Your account ACH and Wire transactions have been temporarily suspended for your Security, due to the expiration of your security version. To download and install the newest Updates, follow this link. As soon as it is set up, your transaction abilities will be fully restored. Best regards, Online security department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."
These e-mails and links are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider these e-mails an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, or to load malicious software onto end users' computers. Recipients should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mails and should NOT install any related files or software updates.
Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that these fraudulent e-mails may be modified over time with other subject lines, sender names, and narratives. The FDIC does not directly contact bank customers, nor does the FDIC request bank customers to install software upgrades.
Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents, and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 3501 North Fairfax Drive, CH-11034, Arlington, Virginia 22226, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Questions related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.
For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2011/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
Sandra L. Thompson
Director
Division of Risk Management Supervision
Attachment (not available electronically)
NOTE: As a security precaution, the FDIC does not post to its Web site electronic images of fraudulent items that have been counterfeited. This is to avoid attempts by others to use these instruments to facilitate additional fraud. Financial institutions can view images of the fraudulent items using the FDIC's free, secure Web site, FDICconnect. (See more information about FDICconnect at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2006/fil06032.html.) Printed copies of each Special Alert and its attachment(s) may also be obtained from the FDIC's Public Information Center (telephone: 1-877-275-3342 or 703-562-2200; fax: 703-562-2296; or e-mail: publicinfo@fdic.gov).
Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)
Here’s a story from a reporter who almost got scammed, could this happen to you? It might if you’re hungry!
You would think a hotel full of investigative reporters would be a really bad place to work a scam. But the scammers were out in full force at the recent conference of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) in Orlando Florida. I stayed four nights in the Renaissance Hotel at Sea World. On three of those nights, flyers advertising pizza joints were slipped under my hotel door.
On my last night in Orlando, I had a craving for pizza. I was thinking of calling one of the places that left a flyer, but I was suspicious. The three flyers looked almost identical. The menus and prices very similar, and one of the pizza joints didn’t list their address.
So I pulled a hotel employee aside and asked her if the pizza places that put flyers under the door are good. Thank God I asked.
“Don’t do it,” the employee warned. “It’s a big scam. They’re just out to steal your credit card number.”
I investigated and found out the hotel employee’s information was right on the money. Sgt. Juan Viamontes of the Orlando Police Department told Action News the pizza-flyer scam is a huge problem, especially in the hotels along International Drive that house tourists coming to visit Sea World, Disney World and other local attractions. He said he has heard of the same scam operating in other cities popular with tourists, including New York.
I want to share details of the scam with Channel 7 viewers since so many people from Michigan vacation in the Orlando area. I want to make sure you don't get burned, as I almost did.
According to Sgt. Viamontes, if you order a pizza from one of these flyers one of three things will likely happen. They’ll steal your credit card number and run up hundreds or thousands of dollars in charges. In some cases you’ll be charged for a pizza, but it will never arrive. At the very least, Sgt. Viamontes said you will pay for a very inferior pizza that, in some cases, is made in unsanitary conditions.
Worse yet, Sgt. Viamontes said a lot of the people who deliver these pizza flyers are criminals.
“They’re pretty shady characters,” said Sgt. Viamontes. “A lot of them have been in jail or prison and they have no other way to make money.”
Sgt. Viamontes told Action News the people who drop off the flyers also check for open hotel doors. If they find one, they go in and steal personal belongings.
A quick internet search by The Channel 7 Investigators turned up news reports of two criminal incidents involving the pizza-flyer-delivery men in 2010. In one case, a delivery man tried to rape a hotel guest. In a second incident, reports say a flyer-delivery man attacked a hotel guard.
Police and hotel operators have been trying to put a stop to the pizza-flyer scammers, but have had only limited success. Sgt. Viamontes said they usually slip in a back door of the hotel and it’s hard for hotel security officers to catch them.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Viamontes offered this advice:
If you stay in a hotel in any city, you should never order from flyers slipped under the hotel door. He said the best bet is to find a pizza place in the local Yellow Pages or get a recommendation from the hotel.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that have the appearance of being from the FDIC.
The e-mails appear to be sent from various "@fdic.gov" e-mail addresses, such as "subscriptions@fdic.gov," "alert@fdic.gov," or "accounts@fdic.gov."
They have subject lines that read: "FDIC: Your business account" or "FDIC: About Your Business Account."
The e-mails are addressed to "Business Customer" or "Business Owner" and state "We have important information about your bank" or "…financial institution." They then ask recipients to "Please click here to find details."
They conclude with, "This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership."
These e-mails and the link included are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider the intent of these e-mails as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, or to load malicious software onto end users' computers. Recipients should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mails and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this media.
Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that other subject lines and modifications to the e-mails may occur over time. The FDIC does not directly contact consumers in this manner nor does the FDIC request personal financial information from consumers.
Corporate Account Take Over
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Cyber criminals are targeting the financial accounts of owners and employees of small and medium sized businesses, resulting in significant business disruption and substantial monetary losses due to fraudulent transfers from these accounts.
Please consult the Fraud Advisory PDF linked to the right for more information.
Attention BankFIRST Customers: Please be aware that there has been a breach at Epsilon Interactive, a company that manages marketing and notification services for a wide variety of companies. The companies that use Epsilon range from US Bank to Disney to Walgreens. While BankFIRST is in no way affiliated with Epsilon Interactive, we want to ensure that our customers are made aware of this situation.
The breach exposed millions of email addresses and names of customers. In addition, the breach may provide contextual information about your relationship with a company (i.e. you fill prescriptions at Walgreens). Spammers can use this context to devise an email that looks legitimate.
To be safe, please exercise additional caution when responding to emails:
• Always be skeptical of any email that is asking for personal or otherwise confidential information
• Keep your Windows operating system up to date with patches
• Ensure that your antivirus software is current
More information on the Epsilon email breach
To help protect yourself from Identity Theft:
- Photocopy contents of your wallet
- Do not list SS# on your checks
- Use P.O. Box as your address
- Shred all sensitive mailings
If you are a victim of Identity Theft:
- File a police report immediately
- Contact all credit card companies
- Contact Bank
- Contact Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-382-4357
- Contact SS Admin. Fraud Line at 1-800-269-0271
- Call Natl. Reporting Organizations
- Equifax-1-800-525-6285
- Experian-1-888-397-3742
- Trans Union-1-800-680-7289
Important Links:
Federal Trade Commission
United States Postal Inspector
Department of Justice
Social Security Administration
When Someone Misuses Your SSA Number
Look closely at the ATM machine before inserting your card. See if you can wiggle the slot piece where you insert your card. If so this may indicate a skimming device.
Next, look for a brochure holder or other attachment affixed to or near, the ATM machine. See if there is a small hole on the side facing the card slot that may be a camera lens.
If the ATM area typically does not have brochure holders or other attachments on the machine but one appears, this could be a hint a skimming device is in use.
Shield the keypad with your hand. This can prevent a hidden camera or individuals from capturing your PIN.
Keep your ATM receipts, routinely check your bank balance, and report any unauthorized withdrawals immediately.
It is true that some retailers hire marketing research companies to evaluate the quality of service in their stores and these companies often use "mystery shoppers" to get the information anonymously. They assign a mystery shopper to make a particular purchase in a store or restaurant, for example, and then report on the experience. Typically, the shopper is reimbursed, and can keep the product or service. Scammers are using newspaper ads and emails to create the impression that they have lucrative mystery shopper jobs to offer with reputable companies. These ads usually promote a website where consumers can “register” to become mystery shoppers. The "secret shopper" assignment is to test the money wiring service Money Gram. Recipients are instructed to cash an enclosed check at his or her bank, keep a small portion and wire the rest. The check is returned to the bank either “account closed”, “counterfeit” or “refer to maker”.
In order to protect yourself from wire transfer fraud, there are several things that you will need to keep in mind. One of the most important things is that you should only deal with local people when selling something or taking a payment. If someone is contacting you from overseas, you should forget about doing business with them. If you do business with someone locally, you will be able to go to their bank and make sure that a check has cleared before moving forward. In addition to this, it would most likely be in your best interest to avoid any requests that ask you to wire money.
FTC Consumer Identity Theft Site
“This website is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.”
"How Not to Get Hooked by the 'Phishing' Scam"
"Internet Pirates Are Trying to Steal Your Personal Financial Information"
FDIC
For more information on how to protect yourself from identity theft and the steps you can take to safeguard your computers and personal information, review the online educational tool on the FDIC's Web site.
FakeChecks.org
Learn More About Fake Check Scams at fakechecks.org
Don't Get Ripped Off: Tips from the FBI (pdf)
Looks Too Good To Be True.com
This website was developed to arm you with information so you don't fall victim to Internet scam artists.
Would You Have Spotted the Fraud?
Information on spotting ATM skimmers.
The United States Postal Inspection Service Fraud Protection Site
Helpful information on protecting yourself from many types of fraud.
ProtectYourIdentityNow.org from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling
ProtectYourIdentityNow.org is a service provided by the Members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), most of them known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS).
